Regarding the W3LPL 4-Square vs Beverage question asked by Larry, N9DX,
let me put in my 2 cents worth of comments. When Frank asked me if I
would join his team to operate the 160 Meter position in the '96/97 CQWW
and ARRL DX Contests, I was given the opportunity of experiencing his
160 Meter antenna farm first hand. Having only one 160M antenna (78'vert)
at the K1HTV home WTH, it was great to have so many different transmit and
receive antennas available. I recall quite vividly comparing Franks beverages
against the new 4-Square for the first time last year. It was under battle
conditions in CQWW Phone contest. On the first night, the 4-Square received
as well as, or better than the Beverages toward Europe when the QRN was low.
When called by ZD8Z at Jim's sunrise saturday morning, it was the 4-Square
that heard him the best. However by Saturday evening, when the QRN level
rose, many QSOs would have been lost without the beverages, especially towards
Europe. During the CQWW CW weekend, at our sunrise we managed to work VK6
(think it was VK6HD) using the NW beverage to receive. He was very weak on
the beverage but inaudible on the 4-Square even with a relatively low QRN level.
The NW vertical almost always outperformed the 4-Square to JA on transmit
and receive. However the West & NW Beverages USUALLY were the best receive
antennas in those directions. Having Beverage antennas separated from the
transmit antennas by 1000 feet allowed us to listen reasonably well on the
lower part of the band while transmitting 20-40 KHz higher, a real advantage
while searching for new mults.
As I found out by experience over the last 4 DX contests at W3LPL, each
direction has its optimum antennas. However, the time of day, path, takeoff
angle, QRN, etc. will dictate which is the best. As Frank says "A Ham can
never have too many antennas" and I wholeheartedly agree.
73 & CU on 160M in the DX Contest(s)
Rich - K1HTV
dz@voa.gov
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/topband.html
Submissions: topband@contesting.com
Administrative requests: topband-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-topband@contesting.com
|